User:Norden1990/Albert Nagymihályi

Albert Nagymihályi (also Ungi or Vinnai, Nagymihályi Albert; died 1433 or 1434) was a Hungarian influential baron and knight of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem in the first third of the 15th century. As a confidant of King Sigismund, he served as Prior of Vrana from 1417 until his death. Beside that, he was also Ban of Croatia between 1419 and 1426.

Ancestry
Albert was born into the Nagymihály branch of the gens (clan) Kaplon, an ancient Hungarian kindred, which, according to the tradition, took part in the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin in the late 10th century. Albert belonged to the so-called Gézsény sub-branch, which descended from Jakó (IV), the son of Andrew Kaplon (an influential lord in the second half of the 13th century). Albert's father was Gregory Nagymihályi, who died before 1380. Albert had two brothers, Ladislaus (III) and George.

There are only scattered sources about his early life. Albert is first mentioned by contemporary records in 1380, when his father already died. His brother Ladislaus took part in the Horvats' rebellion against Sigismund and swore loyalty to the anti-king Ladislaus of Naples in the late 1380s. Therefore, Sigismund confiscated his portions in Nagymihály, Vinna, Gézsény, Sztára in Ung County, Topolyán and Petróc in Zemplén County (present-day Michalovce, Vinné, Hažín, Staré, Topoľany and Petrovce nad Laborcom in Slovakia, respectively) and donated to their relatives John Tibai (the second cousin of the late Gregory). Sometime after John returned the estates to Albert, excluding Nagymihály. After Tibai was killed in the Battle of Nicopolis in September 1396, Sigismund donated the estate with its accessories to Albert for his unspecified "faithful services" in the next year, in May 1397. Sigismund confirmed Tibai's former donations regarding the other estates in favor of Albert in November 1397.

Early career
Despite these donations, Albert, at the beginning of his career, was counted among the poorest family members. According to historian Pál Engel, he had approximately altogether 55–60 serfs in his estates in Ung and Zemplén counties. Albert owed his social rise to his military service. Under the banner of Nicholas Csáki and Nicholas Marcali, the ispáns of Temes County, Albert took part in the clashes with the Ottoman Turks along the southern frontier sometime after 1394. In this capacity, he fought in the crusade in the summer of 1396, which led to the disastrous Battle of Nicopolis in September in that year. He was certainly therefore able to get back the properties confiscated from his unfaithful brother with this military participation. In the subsequent decade, Albert participated in the royal campaign in the Kingdom of Bosnia against the supporters of Ladislaus of Naples.

Prior to 1409, he joined to the familia of Stibor of Stiboricz. Under his service, Albert was referred to as vice-ispán of Közép-Szolnok County in that year, in December 1409. He functioned as vice-ispán of Szolnok County and court bailiff for his lord Stibor in 1410. Despite his age, he was among the group of so-called "royal youth" (iuvenis noster) in 1410, which indicates his permanent place in the Hungarian royal court. Upon the intervention of Stibor, Albert was granted half of the estate Tarpa in Bereg County in that year. Under Stibor's banner, Albert participated in the Hungarian–Venetian war of 1411–1413, leading the voivode's banderium in Friuli and Istria, under the overall command of Pippo Spano. Their army recovered many castles and towns conquered by the Republic of Venice earlier. He fought at the walls of Sacile. Following the death of Stibor in 1414, Albert entered the service of the voivode's namesake nephew, who was Bishop of Eger at that time. He acted as the bishop's officialis in Szentmárton in 1415.

Similarly to other nobles, Albert was involved in various legal conflicts with his kinship (for instance, Peter Tibai or the Vajnatinais) over the years. These charters frequently call him with the "de Vynna" suffix, indicating that his permanent residence was Vinna at that time. Upon his request, Judge royal Simon Rozgonyi transcribed the former royal donations and confirmations regarding the estates Tiba and Sztára to the Nagymihály branch in 1414, in addition to the 1337 division contract between the family members. Palatine Nicholas Garai and the cathedral chapter of Eger also confirmed the former donations for Albert regarding Nagymihály, Tiba (Tibava), Perecse (present-day a borough of Michalovce) and Sztára in 1416. Other documents from the same period refers to Albert with the "dictum Vngy" suffix too, implying that his name was already known outside Ung County, where he was a leading member of the nobility and a prominent landowner by that time.

Prior of Vrana
Following the death of his unidentified wife, with whom he had three sons, Albert Nagymihályi joined the Knights Hospitaller. It is possible that he fought the campaigns against the Turks in this capacity. Beside that, he was knighted to the Order of the Dragon, founded by Sigismund in 1408. Albert Nagymihályi was a typical representative of the king's "new aristocracy", called "homo novus". At the beginning of his reign, Sigismund experienced many rebellions, so he sought to create a new elite loyal to him, who could only owe their social rise to him. As a member of Bishop Stibor's entourage, Albert attended the Council of Constance from 1415. The ecumenical council became the scene of Albert's rise to the Hungarian political and social elite. Sigismund appointed Albert as the prior of Vrana (i.e. head of the Hungarian–Slavonian Priory of the Knights Hospitaller) on 16 October 1417 in Constance (Konstanz).